A case study on manager employee conflicts

The two employees alleged that they were treated differently than other employees in that they were not permitted to work with each other. The supervisor who wrote the e-mail felt uncomfortable with staff from the other office telling her staff what to do. The report was based on interviews with staff from both offices, and identified some of the specific concerns.

Prior to the TJA conference, ProActive conducted voluntary interviews with each of the 12 team members. The relationship between the team leader and the department manager was so damaged they only spoke to each other through third parties.

There was also a difference of opinion between the two offices about which client information could be treated as confidential, and which information it A case study on manager employee conflicts necessary to share with the other office staff.

On this occasion, an employee returned to the office to find her co-worker sitting at the computer with a group of his friends coworkers in the office. Shirley, another project team member, also interviewed Abdul, but strongly opposed hiring him for the project because she thought he was not competent to do the job.

There were also concerns about insufficient consultation between the offices prior to decision making, with decisions being released that could potentially affect the safety of staff in the other office who were unaware of the decision.

In the end, the supervisor agreed to participate in the mediation process with the employees. This led to her absenteeism. It was alleged that experienced staff were replaced with inexperienced staff, contributing to increased workload for those who remained.

Other concerns also existed which led to problems around sharing information and trust. Identify as many of these individual conflicts as possible.

I first met with the supervisor to inform him of contents of the report describing the employees concerns. The mediation began with separate meetings with the supervisor alone, and then the two employees together.

What are the possible ways to deal with the conflict between Abdul and Shirley not just the ones that you would recommend, but all of the options? The two had very different supervisory styles and expectations for staff. The group was split into two warring factions — one group behind the team leader, the other siding with the department manager with a few members remaining neutral.

ProActive Resolutions conducted a TJA conference — essentially a facilitated conversation among a community of people affected by a given situation — to try and get to the root of what was causing the workplace conflict, develop an workplace conflict resolution action plan and to oversee the implementation of the plan.

During the mediation sessions, the employees told very similar versions of events. By the end of the conference a detailed agreement signed by every team member was reached. There were also philosophical differences between the two offices about the nature of their roles and responsibilities and the best approach required for their clients.

The specifics of each case have been altered to protect the confidentiality of those involved. Within a month Shirley was angry because Abdul was representing himself to others as the leader of the entire project and giving the impression that Shirley was working for him.

Agreement was also reached on a how staff would resolve differences in the future and conflict resolution training was recommended for the organization. Issues were clarified and discussed on both sides.

The staff who were interviewed for the fact-finding investigation commented that the level of trust between two offices had diminished significantly. People, who in the past would not even look at each other, are now using Straight Talk and working out their differences in a professional manner.

Provide individual staff with needs analysis, training and coaching workplace policies would be re-distributed and re-signed by staff conduct monthly one-on-one feedback sessions with staff review and formalisation of the team leader and department manager responsibilities with performance measures defined.

The supervisor was not willing to meet with both employees simultaneously. First and foremost, Shirley feels that Abdul is incompetent, thus her perceptions of his capabilities are skewed and there is a lack of respect to begin with.

But when I take the initiative to set up a meeting, she starts jumping up and down about how I am trying to make her work for me.

There was an expectation that they work closely together to deliver a program jointly, but they were unable to do this and this was stressful for her. The discussion centered on workload issues and performance measurement and higher management requirements.

There were cultural and racial differences involved, and underlying disagreements about work ethics and competencies. During the mediation meeting of staff from both offices, the fact-finding report was discussed.

Separate mediation meetings were then held with the supervisor and each of the two employees. However, their counter argument was that what they actually caused was more work for those around them than those others wanted to do. Each side accused the other of not seeing the big picture.ProActive Resolutions conducted a TJA conference – essentially a facilitated conversation among a community of people affected by a given situation – to try and get to the root of what was causing the workplace conflict, develop an workplace conflict resolution action plan and to oversee the implementation of the plan.

The following case studies are conflict situations that were successfully resolved through my conflict resolution and mediation services. The specifics of each case have been altered to protect the confidentiality of those involved.

Student Self-administered case study Learning objectives: weekly and monthly sessions where the managers can get to speak to the employees on a one-to-one basis providing an open forum. Here, we can review current conflicts but also put old conflicts termed grievance procedures or procedures for managing disputes and conflict.